//------------------------------// // Learning about Love // Story: Growth of the CMC: For Better or Worse // by PrinceUniversa //------------------------------// Learning about Love After that awkward conversation with Diamond Tiara about… whatever she was about to tell them about, they left the school grounds. For now, the word herd was lingering in their thoughts. Just what did Diamond mean by the three of them being fit together to be a herd? The Cutie Mark Crusaders wanted answers to that question and, as Silver Spoon suggested; either Twilight or their siblings could answer that question. The trek to Twilight’s castle yielded a conversation between the three of them about their life once they grow up into adults. While normally they wouldn’t think much about their future much, today felt like a good time to talk about them for odd reasons, “So what do y’all got in mind fer life ahead o’ us?” They stopped next to the Ponyville Park fountain to think about life ahead of them. Sitting down upon the stone fountain and placing their right hoof on their chin, they pondered about this for some time. Many of the ponies who were walking by, saw the three of them like that and couldn’t but wonder what those three were doing sitting around like that. Everypony at least saw their antics and even after they got their cutie marks, some can’t help but miss their antics at times. Returning back to their normal routine, Scootaloo raised her right hoof up as a smile formed on her face, “Well if I trained with Rainbow Dash long enough…” Sweetie cut her off with a remark to that statement, “Which you did by the way Scoots…” Apple Bloom couldn’t help but let a snicker escape. The orange pegasus just rolled her eyes and continued on with what she got in mind, “Anyway, if I did and get these wings of mine…” She flapped them sporadically trying to ascend high enough. While she did not soar high, she managed to stay airborne for a longer period of time which impressed the two fillies well enough. Her wings were beginning to tire and soon, she begun to descend towards the fountain. She braced herself as she landed in the fountain and managed to splash her and her friends. She poked her head out of the fountain to see that her friends were drenched like her as well. Silence fell upon the three of them as they sat there for some time. As the Sun was at its highest, the three of them snickered as their expressions showed. In a matter of a few second, they erupted into laughter. Scootaloo pulled them inside the fountain and they begun to splash water onto each other as they continued laughing to their hearts’ content. Water was being splashed everywhere as a few of the ponies that were walking near the fountain got drenched by the three fillies. It didn’t bother them much as they gotten use to their antics by now to the point that some missed their crazy shenanigans. The three kept on splashing one another for what felt like an eternity to them. After a few minutes of splashing each other, they stopped and stepped out of the fountain. All three look upon each other in their soaked state. Something within their minds clicked but they weren’t so sure what it was. They stared at each other for some time admiring their drenched bodies. Shades of red were beginning to rise upon their faces as they looked away from each other weakly laughing. They shook off the water and the sudden feelings begun to fade away as well as their blushing faces. The feeling did bother the three of them a bit but they were more baffled as to why it came to them. Regardless of this detail, they decided to continue the conversation before their fun in the water while trekking to Twilight’s castle. Sweetie cleared her throat as she begun to speak though the topic was something all three shared, “So, um… what was that feeling we felt when we… um, looked at each other while soaked?” Suddenly, all three of their faces were beginning to show shades of red once again upon mention of the odd yet comforting feeling. The emotion came forth once again and lingered much longer for a while. All three were still wondering on why they are suddenly getting this emotion so suddenly. As they are still rather young, the knowledge about this was unbeknownst to them. Apple Bloom shook her head not wanting to linger on this much longer, “Uh, Sweetie, can we please change the topic ‘ere? Ah don’t want t’ talk ‘bout it if we keep havin’ this…whatever it is we’re feelin’.” Scootaloo nodded in agreement with the filly farmer. The feeling begun to slowly dissipate from them as Sweetie acknowledged the fact, “Oh sure! Well we know that Scootaloo still wants to be a Wonderbolt…” Both looked at the orange pegasus expecting a little bit of boasting about it but instead, she was silent. This was not normal for the energetic filly, only happening when she was scared. The two were concerned for Scootaloo. Sweetie asked while poking her as she tried to get her attention, “Scoots? Are you alright?” Scootaloo jerked her head looking at her two friends while trotting to the castle. She mentally slapped herself for being silent when her two friends asked her, “Oh I’m sorry! Uh, what was the question you asked?” Apple Bloom can tell that something was troubling her normally energetic friend. The Apple family has been known to see details, minor or major, that bothered their friends and closest family members. Scootaloo being silent in a conversation was one of those. Worried for her friend, she repeated what Sweetie asked her, “She asked if ya were okay an’ from yer silence, Ah can tell that something’s botherin’ ya Scoots.” The orange pegasus bore a look of defeat upon hearing Apple Bloom being concerned. Looking upon the fashionista’s sister, she too was sharing the farm filly’s concern. She looked forward to see Twilight’s castle not far ahead. Scootaloo let out a sigh as she looked at her two friends, “To be honest, something is bothering me Apple Bloom, but can I answer that when we get to Twilight’s castle? I Pinkie Promise it okay?” She began to recite the words of the promise, “Cross my heart…” She raised her right hoof and made an x over her heart, “Hope to fly…” She made a crescent wave motion and then she put her hoof over her eye as she said the last words, “Stick a cupcake in my eye.” Both of them looked at each other first before resigning to her promise as they shifted their attention to her, “Alright Scoots, but ya better keep that promise ya made!” A green bush nearby them suddenly began to shake wildly just after Scootaloo made the promise. All three saw it and were about to creep up on it until Pinkie popped out from the bush looking at the three with a rather serious look in her eyes, “Because if you don’t keep your promises, you’ll lose your friends FOREVER!” She looked continued to stare at the three as she lowered herself into the bush until she was inside. All three looked at each other clearly a bit surprised about that. Sweetie took the chance to look inside the bush. She moved some of the leaves to find enough space for a pony to fit in but no sign of the pink pony whatsoever. She looked upon them and just shrugged much to their confusion, “I can never understand Pinkie’s antics…” All three of them nodded in agreement to… whatever happened, “Ah don’t think even Discord can understand her craziness at all.” At first, they were about to agree with her but instead, all three actually pondered about it for awhile as they trekked to the castle. During their deep thinking, they passed a few obstacles in their way without them even noticing it at all as they were looking down on the ground in thought. In their thought process, craziness ensued around them such as some crashing carriages, ponies running into each other by accident as they were avoiding the three fillies, and many things unaccounted for. By the time they reached the crystalline steps, they raised their heads agreeing with each other that Discord could possibly understand Pinkie’s odd antics unbeknownst to them that behind them was a clutter of chaos. One that Discord would either be glad it happened or be a little bit jealous at him being left out of it. The lead filly was about to knock on the crystal door when it was opened right as she was about to made contact. In front of the opened door was Spike who looked relatively surprised to see them here, “Oh, hey you three! What brings you…?” His eyes noticed something going on behind the fillies. He tilted his body to the right seeing the mess behind them, “Whoa…” All three were confused about why he said that. When they turned around, they immediately shared Spike’s sentiments about the clutter behind them. Even Apple Bloom could not stop herself from almost mimicking what Spike said, “Wowza…” They saw the chaos created behind them. They were surprised to have caused that much of a clutter behind them even though they did not do any of their cutie mark searching shenanigans. All three chuckled seeing what happened behind them. Even after they got their cutie marks, they still cause a major mess, “Well, guess our mess-ups still stick with us even after we got these…” Sweetie Belle was pointing at her flank that bear their cutie marks. All three and Spike couldn’t help but let out a small chortle. Scootaloo was the first to die down their chortle as she was wiping her eyes from the laughter, “Yeah, I guess we can’t help but cause trouble everywhere regardless of us getting our cutie marks.” All three almost exploded in their laughter. They stopped themselves before they choked on their own laughter. As they breath in and out from all the laughing, Spike couldn’t help but be curious about something, “Hey, why are you girls here by the way?” They looked at Spike first then at each other trying to decide who to speak for their situation. Scootaloo and Sweetie both backed one step away simultaneously leaving Apple Bloom upfront. She turned around much to her surprise that she had to answer the question. They gestured her to speak for them while trying to hide their laughter but Apple Bloom can see that they enjoyed doing that. She let out a sigh and turned her attention to Spike, “We’re here t’ ask Twi a question, ya seen her ‘round yet?” “Sure I have! She’s in the library as usual…” He moved out of the way allowing the CMC inside, “I think you know how to get there right?” They nodded and proceeded to the library with haste. He looked at the three rushing past him immediately to get to Twilight. He never even heard a single thank you for the assistance. He thought he was imagining things and that they were probably on a rush to do something important but something didn’t feel right with those three, “Wonder what’s gotten them all riled up?” He was about to leave until he heard a quiet but echoing thank you. He let a chuckle and a smile form there, “Yep, definitely in a rush if they forgot to say it until the last minute.” The three fillies let out a sigh of relief. They had almost forgotten to say thanks to the dragon. Normally, it wouldn’t really matter much, but since they passed him in a haste, that would have likely gain a bit of suspicion from Spike. Seeing the dragon leave with a chuckle and a smile allowed them to calm down for now, “Phew, I can’t believe we forgot to say thanks to Spike there…” “Ya darn tootin’ Sweetie!” She was rubbing her head and wiping off some of the sweat that managed to build itself up. When did they start to get so sweaty and somewhat tired? Guess they were so focused on trying to find out what the word herd means, that they didn’t realize how tuckered out they were. They let a few weak laughs escape as they managed to pick themselves up, “Now come on Cutie Mark Crusaders, we need t’ see an’ find Twilight!” Already Scootaloo regained her pep back as she was moving around a bit like a pack of wolves running amok, “Yeah, but uh… where’s Twilight and the library?” “Right behind you three Scootaloo…” All three of them froze in fear upon hearing the voice. They turned their attention to the Princess of Friendship. She was standing there looking at them oddly as if waiting for an answer, “Well, what brings you three to my humble abode?” She let a warm smile form on her face to prove her statement true. Seeing the smile on Twilight’s face soothed the three fillies’ bristling nerves. Their bodies relaxed as they looked upon the purple mare, “Sorry ‘bout that Twi, we uh… came here t’ ask ya a question.” A purple wing enveloped the three of them. They looked to see her wrapping them in her embrace still bearing her warm smile, “Well why didn’t you say so Apple Bloom? Come on, you can ask the questions as we go to the library.” The three followed Twilight through the castle. Before they could ask the important question though, they though best to thank her. Sweetie beat the other two in the thank you department, “Thanks for allowing us to ask you Twilight, we appreciate it.” She heard her fellow compatriots groan from them being beaten from the thanks. Sweetie stuck her tongue out at them while letting a little chuckle escape. While Twilight did find that a bit rude, she couldn’t help but chuckle to those three just being their playful selves. It reminded much of her childhood days when she would go and play around with Shining Armor. Realizing quickly that she was recalling memories, she returned her focus back to the three fillies, “You welcome you three, remember, it’s what I do best.” Their trek was fruitful as they reached the library. Magic enveloped the doors as they opened to reveal the interior of the library. All three hastily passed her looking either in awe of the library or just them being a little bit impatient. She closed the doors behind them as she went to the table at the center of the library where the CMC were waiting for her, “Okay, now that we’re here, tell me… what question you have in mind for me?” They saw her gathering the many books stowed away in the library. They suddenly were a bit afraid that they might see her go into lecture mode when they ask but they did not go all the way here for nothing. The three looked at each other wondering who will ask the question. Apple Bloom voluntarily decided to do so for the sake of getting this over with, “Well um… ya see Twilight, we uh…” Apple Bloom was feeling nervous of asking this question. Looking upon her two friends, they too shared her worries as their hooves were a bit jittery. She looked upon Twilight seeing that she was rather busy looking through some of the books. Relieving that she wasn’t focusing on the three yet, they needed the breather. She looked at the two freaking out a bit, “Girls, Ah don’t think Ah can do this!” She was flailing her forelegs around from the nervousness. Scootaloo was bringing her hooves up to her mouth seemingly looking like she was chewing on them from the pressure, “I know Apple Bloom! I’ve never felt this nervous before for a simple question!” They looked at Sweetie Belle wondering about her reaction to the pressure. She looked at them clearly a bit shaky. Though her body did not show any noticeable signs of nervousness, her eyes had that glimmer of fear, “What?! Don’t look at me like that! I’m cracking from the pressure like you two!” “Uh girls, you know I can hear you three right?” Their bodies stiffened as they heard her voice. They shifted their attention to Twilight with a sheepish grin plastered on their faces. She bore a look of concern for the three as she lowered the books she was carrying in her telekinesis, “If this question is rather personal, you don’t have to ask me right now… I can wait until tomorrow if you’d like.” Hearing this from Twilight, instead of them beginning to calm down like Twilight expected, they begun to panic a bit more. Normally, they’d be fine with this, but their minds were not clearly thinking straight as their nervousness showed. Twilight took a small step back wanting to get their older sisters here, “Um… I’ll just leave you three alone right now…” “No wait!” The sudden outburst from the three fillies almost made Twilight run out of the library to get their siblings, well, siblings and role model. Regardless she turned around to see their expression shifting slowly from panicked nervousness to a resigned acceptance. It was surprising to see that kind of shift on the three. A little smile formed on her face seeing the CMC growing up so fast. She returned back to her side of the table looking at the three who let out a small, deep breath as they simultaneously asked the same question, “We want to know what the word herd means!” Twilight again was taken aback by the outburst but still wore her smile, “Sure! Let me…” She replayed the question in her mind and suddenly, her expression almost immediately shifted though she tried to hide it to the best of her abilities. She was very certain that they were asking what that word meant, but she wanted to be sure that she did not hear them wrongly, “Uh, girls, could one of you three repeat the question again?” She was still bearing her smile but it was rather strained to keep up the façade. All three looked at each other before Apple Bloom decided to be the one to ask the question, “We uh… want t’ know what the word herd means Twi… we all do…” She waved a hoof at her friends putting forth the knowledge that they all want to know about this specific word. Twilight’s mind was trying to process this. They wanted to know about that word? In truth, she wouldn’t mind answering that question for those three not only to satisfy their curiosity but also because they already took their first step into adulthood without them even knowing it. Yet this was also nagging at her for some unknown reason. She was weighing her options heavily. In the end, she decided to answer their question because even if she denied them, their siblings would likely answer their question at least in reluctance. However, before she could answer their question, there was something she needed to know, “Okay I’ll answer your question but first, I need to know something.” Their ears perked as they looked at her glee. She couldn’t but almost look away. It’s almost like they were bound to cause a disaster just by their cuteness alone. She cleared her throat, “Um… okay, so who told you that word?” All three looked at each other wondering who was going to answer that question. This time Scootaloo volunteered to answer that question, “Um… it was Diamond Tiara.” Twilight looked at the three with concern. She heard about her reformation thanks to her three friends and while she was very much pleased to hear and see that they managed to reform a bully, she was cautious. Maybe she was just being too paranoid about all of this and that would be very true considering her record but better safe than sorry right? She let the look subsided seeing that she was just getting herself worked up over nothing again. She let Scootaloo continue on with their answer, “She told us that we’d fit together as a herd. We wanted to know what she means by that.” Hearing that from the orange pegasus, Twilight looked at the three in a different light. She was seeing what the rich filly meant now. She couldn’t deny her claim and admittedly did agree with Diamond’s sentiments. They were growing up so fast it was rather undeniable that they would soon learn this knowledge. She let out a sigh as she looked at them with eyes gleaming with a sense of both joy and worry, “So Diamond Tiara told about it huh?” They all nodded almost looking rather like they were about to fall from the table. She let a chuckle escape from her as she continued, “Well, I can say one thing about her, I agree with her sentiments about you three being a part of a herd.” All three, while pleased, still bore a look of confusion on their faces, “Uh thanks, but that still doesn’t answer the question Twilight…” “I know Sweetie, it’s just that you three are growing up so fast…” They looked a bit dumbfounded as she pulled a book from the bookshelves. She was flipping through the pages looking through it until her hoof stopped at the page she was looking for. She looked at the three once again before responding, “Let me ask you three something important… are you sure you want to learn about the word herd?” She put emphasis on the word just in case. They nodded looking determined to learn about it. She let a smile form as she turned the book and pushed it to them, “Alright, this book will explain what a herd is…” All three looked into the book excitedly as she pointed to their answer. Their answer came in words and pictures. They saw ponies together hugging and sharing some secrets while… smooching each other. The three of them made a gagging motion from seeing pictures of ponies kissing, “Seriously? This is what Diamond Tiara was referring to when she said that we’d make a fitting herd? No thanks I’ll pass!” Even though Scootaloo had said that, they were beginning to get the same feeling they felt when they looked at each other soaked. Twilight noted their blushing faces and couldn’t help but let a laugh escape her, “Well, will you look at that?” They were looking at each her first wondering what she was talking about. She couldn’t help but let a knowing smile form, “The three of you are blushing you know.” They looked at each other noticing their faces having shades of red forming. They looked away from each other embarrassed about this predicament. Twilight’s mind was churning as her gears were turning seeing their reaction when they looked away from each other. After connecting the dots, her eyes seemingly widened seeing their reaction was genuine, “Are… you three beginning to fall for one another?” The three fillies focused their attention to Twilight who was looking both concerned and surprised about this revelation. Their faces had traces of red but it slowly faded away for them to at least answer, “Ah… don’t know Twi, are we… falling in love with each other?” For the first time, the other two did not deny the possibility and were left in silence. This surprised Twilight more so then she expected. She shook her head although she was conflicted about it much to her dismay, “I… can’t say you three, only my sister-in-law Cadance would know the answer to that but….” She raised a hoof to her chin looking at the three carefully. They were looking at each other a few times before looking away again. She could not smile for she doubted herself on this despite it being plain obvious, “I’d say that you three are falling for one another… I can’t say anything other than that you three, I’m sorry.” Despite her apology, the three bore their smile as they looked at Twilight, “It’s alright Twilight, we do appreciate the help with finding out the word though.” The lavender princess just smiled as she moved out of the way allowing the three to go out of the library. As they left the library leaving Twilight behind, she let herself slowly breathe in and out. After her breathing exercise, she let herself lay down on the crystal floor, her brain thinking about the positives and negatives of this newfound love between the Crusaders now. It was still most shocking to learn of them having feelings for one another and though Twilight knew that there was good things down that road, this majorly concerned her knowing the Crusaders’ stubbornness, “Goodness, what am I going to do about you three falling in love with each other?” Meanwhile with the three fillies, they were heading back to their clubhouse now with knowledge about why Diamond considered the three of them to be a herd. Despite them denying it, they can see it clearly as plain daylight. Them working with one another to achieve their cutie marks, always being there for each other, and forgiving each other even when things looked horrible. All of these were enough to convince them that they can be a herd. Yet their stubbornness was making this much harder for them. They didn’t want to take this second step so quickly as noted by Apple Bloom, “So um… now we know what Diamond meant by all three o’ us being fit t’ be a herd…” Their faces still had some shades of red even after leaving and calming themselves down. They couldn’t even look at each other for so long without blushing a bit. Scoots looked at her two compatriots weakly laughing, “Yeah… um, can we just forget this whole thing ever happened?” Sweetie scratched her head and so did Apple Bloom before they nodded in agreement, “Sure Scoots, let’s just forget this ever happened alright? I don’t want my sis to freak out about this…” “Ah could say the same ‘bout mah sis…” They looked at each other once more before this time longer than expected of them. This did leave a positive note on the three but not for long, “So um… Ah’m going t’ return back, see y’all later?” “Yeah see you later Apple Bloom… you too Sweetie Belle.” The orange pegasus waved back at the two as they begun to leave back for their homes. “Yeah see you two back here…someday.” Sweetie was not confident in her words. She looked back at the two who were walking away from each other and heading back home. She looked away and returned to the boutique feeling very conflicted. It was here, that their friendship begun to tear apart and left them conflicted.